Ceasar and Cornelia's Family
by amandavg1
Summary: Cornelius, Nova and Blue Eyes and their misadventures with family and friends.
1. Chapter 1: Ceasar and Cornelia

Cornelius and Nova are in their family hut, sharing the only bathroom they have. As always, trouble arises. They are both trying to look in the mirror, but they are shoving and pushing.

"Move over!" Nova argues, elbowing her brother in the arm. "You are taking up the entire space!"

"Oh no I'm not!" Cornelius shot back pushing her out of the way. "You are! Move!"

Cornelius shoved his sister into the wall which made her quite angry.

"Don't test me, Cornelius!" Nova replied irritated. She rolled her sleeves up and made fists. She snarled at her brother and he shot a face at her.

"Oh yeah?" Cornelius said in a rude mimik tone. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll clobber you, _that's_ what I'll do!" Nova argues back shoving her fist at her brothers face. He scoffs and rolled his eyes.

"Really Nova," Cornelius responds going back to washing his face. "Why can't you just accept that I'm stronger than you?"

"No you're not!" Nova complained in a harsh tone. "I let you win!"

Cornelius shook his head with an eye roll, "No you don't."

"Yes I do!" Nova shouts back which made her brother more annoyed with her stuck up attitude.

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't!"

"Yes." Nova walked up to him and shoved his chest with her hand, furious, clutching her teeth together. "I. DO!"

"Nova, you're pushing it," Cornelius responds trying to remain calm and not to get physical with his sister once again.

"Move over," Nova said irritated, pushing her brother out of the way from the mirror so she can comb her hair.

"Hey!" Cornelius shouted, elbowing her so he can have some space. "Stop taking up the whole space!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

Blue Eyes walked in seeing his younger brother and sister nagging and starting to get physical. He rolled his eyes and walked over with his arms crossed.

"Will you just move-" Cornelius started but he was cut off short, looking in the mirror at his brother. Nova soon looked in the mirror, and saw her brother. They both immediately stopped talking and went into dead silence.

"What is going on?" Blue Eyes asked.

"He started it!" Nova said turning around and pointed at her brother.

"No you started it!" Cornelius snapped back pointing at his sister.

They both started bickering back and forth again. Blue Eyes sighed annoyed. This sibling rivalry has been going on for the past week and is getting on everyone's nerves.

"I don't care who started it!" Blue Eyes snapped harshly and the children went into silence again with a gulp of nervousness. "I'm finishing it! One more remark and I'm telling Mother and Father!"

"What are you, Mr. Tattletale?" Cornelius argued at his older brother standing behind him. Blue Eyes shot him a cold glare that he finds quite unsettling. He gulped and slowly nodded as well as Nova.

"Good," Blue Eyes said as he left the bathroom.

Cornelius looked in the mirror to make sure that Blue Eyes was gone. In fact, he was so Cornelius turned to Nova and glared at her.

"Look at what you did," He whispered to her. "We almost got in trouble because of you."

"Because of me?!" Nova whispered back, harshly. "Don't you pin this fight on me!"

"Nevermind, I am not in the mood to get hollered at by Father," Cornelius responds leaving the bathroom along with Nova. They walked into the kitchen and didn't see anyone making lunch.

"Where are they?" Nova asked, confused. "It's nearly lunchtime."

Cornelius shrugged his shoulders, "Beats me. Didn't Mother say she was going to fix our favorite?"

Nova nodded, "Yeah I think so."

"Then where are they, I'm getting hungry," Cornelius responds getting irritated. Nova shrugged and tilted her head.

"I don't know," Nova sighed.

They both then heard muffling coming from the room over by the bathroom. Nova and Cornelius shared a confused glance. They started making their way over by the room and were starting to make out some words like, _"Caesar stop!" , "No." , "What if the children come in?"_

The siblings looked at each other confused.

"What is that all about?" Nova asked her brother.

"I don't know but I can tell you one thing, we aren't children!" Cornelius whispered to Nova who agreed. They didn't want their parents to find out they were eavesdropping.

"I want lunch," Nova replied in a quiet voice. "Can't we just go in there and ask what the hold up is?"

"Gee, I don't want to get in trouble again," Cornelius whispered back. "We both can't afford to be punished. Not after what happened last time."

Nova sighed and agreed folding her arms, "I know, but we can't just stand around and starve to death. We can't cook, and neither can Blue Eyes."

"What do you suggest then, barging in and interrupt whatever they are doing?" Cornelius asked his sister who sighed.

"Not necessarily _barging_ in, that would cause trouble for us," Nova explained to Cornelius who nodded in agreement, listening to her plan. "Just quietly walk in and ask when lunch is. You know, in a nice voice."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Yeah, I guess that's better than not having lunch at all."

Before they had a chance to open the door, Blue Eyes saw them and ran over to stop them just in time before they saw anything they regretted to see.

"Hold it, I really don't think it's a good idea to disturb Mother and Father," Blue Eyes said nervously pushing Nova's hand off the door.

The two younger siblings looked up at him puzzled.

"Why not, it's nearly lunchtime!" Cornelius complained in a quiet voice but yet it was rather harsh than he intended.

Blue Eyes had a pretty good idea what his parents are doing, and didn't want his younger siblings to be scarred for life. He also didn't want to see his mother and father flirting, kissing and touching each other inappropriately. It was only natural that Blue Eyes knew what was happening, have had been given 'The Talk' last week by both his mother and father, including stuff like "How babies are made", "What sex is", "having safe sex", and "Why do adults do it?". The list continues of questions Blue Eyes had for his parents and what they explained to him in a simple way.

Blue Eyes was quite uncomfortable during this whole "Sex Talk", especially having his own parents explain everything he should know. In general, he sort of knew what sex was, but was still confused and felt nervous about the term "Intimacy" and "Private Time" , "Kissing" , "Making Out" , "Private Parts". He knows now that it was good that he has all the information about sex, and having his own questions answered in the process.

What Blue Eyes did know is that Nova and Cornelius are still too young to be given "The Talk" yet. He didn't want them to see anything they immediately regretted seeing.

Blue Eyes swore that if he ever saw his parents doing "things" with each other, his face would go as red as a patch of tomatoes for weeks. He had to think of something quick so he can convince them to stay away.

"Uh, because, they um, aren't feeling well…" Blue Eyes stammered with sweat dripping down his face and hands. He felt very uneasy thinking of what his parents could possibly be doing inappropriately behind closed doors. His face was already beginning to turn pinkish-red just thinking about it. "They might be uh, sleeping…"

"Sleeping at high noon?" Nova asked unconvincingly. She then shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, what are you hiding from us?" Cornelius asked his brother with his hands on his hips. "Why are you sweating so much?" He pointed at Blue Eye's face. "Your face is pink, maybe you are the one that's sick!"

"I'm not sick, I _really_ think you two should leave them alone," Blue Eyes said pushing them away from the door. "Go outside or something."

"No, we want to eat!" Nova argues back shoving past Blue Eyes along with Cornelius. They headed towards the door and he turned around to try and stop them but it was too late.

"Oh no," Blue Eyes mutters to himself, smacking his face full of annoyance and embarrassment that he didn't stop them quick enough. He walked over bracing himself for the worst. He glanced at his parents fooling around on their bed [not a human bed, but similar]. Blue Eyes felt his face go completely red and covered his face with his hands. Through his fingers, he tried not to look at his parents but Nova and Cornelius had their eyes glued to them.

"Eww," Nova whispered with a disgusted look on her face as well as Cornelius.

"Gross," Cornelius responds, just as disgusted as his sister was.

Caesar and Cornelia heard whispering and saw the outside light from the corner of their eyes. They instantly stopped what they were doing and sat up to see that all three of their children in the room. They glanced at each other and moved away from each other, to a respectful distance in front of their children. They both gulped completely and utterly embarrassed that not only one child, but all three of them caught them in the act.

Caesar and Cornelia didn't even know how to react or respond this incident. Oh, what the three children must be thinking, especially Nova and Cornelius who never had witnessed anything like this before. Not this sort of intimacy before. How they both didn't notice the children for that long, made them feel more embarrassed.

"Um, Nova honey.." Cornelia tried with a dry mouth of nervousness.

"Cornelius, son…" Caesar also tried, but they couldn't think how to explain what they just saw.

"Wha.." Nova stammered, unable to comprehend this. "Um, I mean.. What, Hm.."

"Mot.. and um, Fat..." Cornelius said stammering as well pointing at both of them nervously and didn't what to think at this point.

Blue Eyes put down one hand and just the other to cover his cherry red face of embarrassment.

"Look, um, we were uh, spending some, uh quiet time.." Cornelia said giving them a reassuring smile. "We were having um, a special kind of snuggle."

Both parents tried not to blush at the comment. There was a moment of silence between all of them.

"Are you two ok?" Caesar asked, still quite embarrassed from that incident. Both children looked at each other, then their parents and slowly nodded.

"Yes.." Nova and Cornelius simultaneously.

"Are you sure now?" Cornelia asked, still worried that her children were either scarred or disturbed.

"Yeah," they both said together and gave the smallest of smiles.

Caesar stood up and put a hand on his oldest son's shoulder, worried he was more scarred because of what he now knows about coitus.

"Son, are you alright?" Caesar asked calmly.

"Yes Father…" Blue Eyes replied removing his hand from his face. They all stared at him with their eyes bugged out of their heads, seeing how red his face is. It took a moment before Caesar and the children to burst out laughing.

"Father!" Blue Eyes yelled in such embarrassment of his red face. "You guys! This isn't funny!"

"Caesar, that's enough!" Cornelia responded after her son, shocked and angry that her husband is laughing at their son.

"Ok, ok, that was uncalled for," Caesar finally said wiping the tears off his cheeks from laughing so heartedly. "I'm sorry, son. But you have to admit that your face was super red."

"It was as red as a cherry!" Nova interrupts, still continuing to chuckle.

"Nono, it was more like a tomato!" Cornelius added in, laughing.

Blue Eyes faced his siblings and put his hands on his hips, "And what's my secret weapon I'm _very_ fond of using against you two?!

"We're sorry, Blue Eyes," Nova said chuckling.

"We just can't help when our brother turns into an Apple!" Cornelius teased which made both of them laugh so hard again.

"Father, make them stop!" Blue Eyes snapped harshly, covering his face with his hand.

"Alright You two, go out and play," Caesar replied, gently pushing them out the door. They nodded and ran outside.

…

"I'm sorry father, I didn't mean for them to see anything! I couldn't stop them!" Blue Eyes said nervously. "I wasn't looking much, honest!"

Both Caesar and Cornelia looked at each other and chuckled of how cute it was that Blue Eyes is all embarrassed of the incident.

"It's fine honey," Cornelia said from the bed, brushing herself off from any bed hair.

"Son, it's perfectly natural that this accidentally happened," Caesar explained to his son who looked at him bemused. "I made the same mistake with my adopted human parents before." Caesar chuckled to himself remembering that. "I was horrified, but I got past it."

Blue Eyes nodded and smiled small. Caesar couldn't help but crack up amusing jokes of his son's red face.

"Maybe your mother and I should do this more often, just to see his red your face can get."

"Caesar," Cornelia said sitting on the side of the bed, hiding her smile from Blue Eyes.

"Father, come on!" Blue Eyes snapped harshly hiding his face with his hand as it started to go red again. Caesar chuckled and crossed his arms, finding all this quite amusing. "Stop being inappropriate!"

"Maybe during dinner, perhaps?"

Blue Eyes's face began to turn bright red at his father's comments.

"Father, stop it!"

"In the backyard?"

Blue Eyes closed his eyes and covered his face with the other hand feeling his face go very red.

"Stop it!"

Caesar chuckled seeing how funny this actually was.

"Out in public?"

"Dad! Come on!" Blue Eyes snapped covering his face. "You are putting mental images in my head!"

Caesar chuckled at his son's bright red face he was trying to hide.

"On the beach, or-"

"Mother!" Blue Eyes yelled removing his hands from his face to look at his mother. "Tell him to leave me alone! He's making my face go completely red!"

"Caesar, stop teasing Blue Eyes," Cornelia said standing up, sharing a smirk with him. "He doesn't need this right now."

Caesar turned around and put a hand on his son's shoulder, "I'm sorry, son. I was just teasing. I understand this isn't funny. I really do."

Blue Eyes sighed and shared the tiniest of smiles, "I know, Father."

"What did you three want anyways?" Cornelia asked.

Blue Eyes looked at his mother and smiled small, "Nova and Cornelius wanted to know when we're having lunch."

Cornelia's eyes shot out of her head and mouth hung open for a moment. She was so wrapped up in that intimate moment with Caesar that she completely forgot about lunch.

"My word, I forgot about lunch!" Cornelia responded, annoyed with Caesar as well. "Tell your siblings it'll be really momentarily!" She walked passed Caesar and elbowed him in the arm. "This is all your fault!"

"How is it my fault that I'm so irresistibly charming to women?" Caesar teased with a smirk. That caused Cornelia to get frustrated and rolled her eyes at him. She left for the kitchen as Caesar and Blue Eyes followed behind.

"You are so lucky that I am too busy to deal with you right now."

"Don't worry father, I'm sure you'll get an earful later on," Blue Eyes said teasingly.

"Blue Eyes, you are not helping," Cornelia said from the kitchen preparing lunch.

Blue Eyes sighed and looked down at his feet, "Yes, mother."

"AM I going to get an earful later on?" Caesar asked with a smirk and a wink. Cornelia rolled her eyes and went back to work.

"Father!"

"It depends how you behave," Cornelia responded in a flirtatious tone.

"Mother!" Blue Eyes snapped, waving his arms as the parents chuckled. "Hello! Your son is in the room! The one that just saw you two doing… _stuff_ …"

Caesar chuckled and put his arm around his son's shoulders, "We're sorry, bud. That wasn't appropriate of us to flirt like that."

"No, it wasn't!" Blue Eyes said feeling uncomfortable. "I felt my face going red, now will you two please stop!"

"We understand, honey," Cornelia said walking over and rubbed his arm. "We're sorry, ok?"

Blue Eyes nodded as his parents smiled.

"Ok, now will you tell Nova and Cornelius that lunch will be ready in 5 minutes?"

"Yes, Mother."

Blue Eyes walked outside as Cornelia and Caesar sighed in relief. There was a few moments of silence between them.

"That was a… eventful day," Caesar said quietly to his wife.

Cornelia nods, "Yes, it sure was."

"Well, at least it's been dealt with," Caesar replied.

They stood there in silence until Cornelia spoke up, "Having that conversation with Blue Eyes was stressful enough, but imagine when we have to have that same talk with both Nova and Cornelius?"

Caesar instantly shook his head in denial, "They won't ever need it."

"And why not?" Cornelia asked crossing her arms at him.

"I won't let them grow up."

"Oh Caesar," Cornelia replied with a chuckle, giving her husband a nudge before going back to finish lunch. "They'll eventually need to have the talk and you know it."

"I guess so, but I didn't expect it to be coming up so soon. It seemed like yesterday when they were first learning to walk."

Silence filled the room. Cornelia sighed fighting back her tears.

"You and me both," She replied quietly putting the food on the table. "But we are just going to have to soldier through it, like we did with Blue Eyes."

"I can't believe he's already a teenager," Caesar added folding his arms. "Our first born is really growing up, isn't he?"

"He sure is, but there will be lots of firsts still, like his first mate, and heartbreaks," Cornelia explained holding his hand. "And I'll bet he will still get into a whole mess of trouble like all teenaged apes do, and you'll be there to holler and protect him."

Caesar laughed heartedly with tears in his eyes.

"I know, but it's hard to think that our children are growing up so fast."

"I know," Cornelia said with her eyes filled with tears. She gave him a gentle hug and whispered, "I know."

They hugged letting out a few tears as the children walked in on their moment.

"Are you crying father?" Nova asked curiously looking at his slightly red eyes.

They broke the hug and faced their children and slightly chuckled.

"What's wrong?" Cornelius asked curious as well.

"Its nothing, sweetie," Caesar replied in a quiet voice, kissing the top of her head. "We were just having a private moment."

"You don't mean-" Cornelius started but he couldn't finish without gulping.

Cornelia slightly laughed, "No No No baby, it's not what you think."

"Ok good, because I don't think I can go through that again," Nova said as everyone chuckled.

"Don't worry you won't _ever_ have to again," Caesar replied as Cornelia nudged his arm and gave him a look about what they discussed earlier.

"I don't want my face to go that red again!" Blue Eyes added in.

"You have to admit it was a priceless moment!" Nova said laughing as Caesar smiled and put a hand on her back and rubbed it.

"Next time, we really need to say something before we walk into your room," Cornelius said as the parents laughed.

"Come on, lunch is ready," Caesar said putting a hand on Nova and Cornelius's back and led them to the table. They all sat around the table, eating, laughing and talking with one another.

 _ **The end.**_


	2. Chapter 2: Nova is Human

Nova is outside with the other apes trying to fit in and play with them. When the apes started running, she did as well, but tried to copy the others so she felt included and apart of the community.

Nova dangled her arms loosely like the rest of them, putting more weight on her legs while bending her knees. Every so often Nova caught some of the other apes scratching themselves, at first she thought it was due to itchy skin. But after a while, she figured it was just natural. Of course she scratched herself as well.

They also talked differently, by taking deep breaths on occasions in between words, as well as grunting, snorting, heavy breathing, and deep voices. Nova tried to communicate with her friends and neighbors using the same techniques she self-taught herself by watching what the other apes did. Some of them gave her confused looks, which made her feel embarrassed that she wasn't a good enough ape to be apart of the new civilization. Instead she used sign language to communicate.

Nova continued to try and be a ape that everyone liked. When her two brothers and their friends climb and play in the trees, she also attempted to teach herself how to be in the trees like the rest of them.

It didn't always work out, ending up with bruises, scratches, broken bones, etc. It made Nova wonder why she isn't as good at these things that just seemed so natural to the other apes in this civilization. Why couldn't she run as fast, climb as high, swing from tree to tree, talk right or anything? While she never got a direct answer she was curious about, none of her previous failures never stopped her from getting back up and trying again. Nova would give anything to be decent ape like her own community without any mistakes in the process.

Nova knows she's an ape like the rest of them, and all she can do is be the best ape she can be.

Nova chased after the other apes, running with her knees bent and arms dangling in front of her. Although she was slower than the rest, it didn't stop her from walking away from her new friends feeling self-conscious.

When the other apes stopped running, Nova aight up and tried hard not to give them the satisfaction that she was tired of running around.

"What…" Nova said talking in a deep voice, making sure to take hard breaths as well. "Do… you all… want… to do… now?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Caesar and Cornelia are walking back to their hut after a long morning of working on the new community which is in the process of being built with everyone's contribution to the project. Besides the other apes, they are one of the few that can speak fluently and properly.

"Caesar, we need to talk," Cornelia said, feeling a bit nervous knowing she's been putting this off for a full week now. "It's about Nova."

Caesar raises his brow and looks at his wife curiously but yet worried

by the mention of their adopted daughter.

"Ok…"

"I think Nova's starting to realize that she's different than us," Cornelia blurted out knowing she needed come right out and say it or else she'd put the conversation off again.

"And your point?" Caesar asked, feeling quite uneasy that they are talking about their daughter being human and not knowing it. He knew what Cornelia was going to say but he didn't want to hear the answer. He couldn't face Nova and tell her she's a human, the only human in the world that's alive. That would ruin her self esteem, maybe even go into a state of depression and denial. Caesar knew how Nova would react and didn't want to break her heart and soul. She witnessed war, killing, torture, hitting and beating, and on the path of getting better. She also had nightmares, emotional traumas, flashbacks, and sometimes scared when apes started wrestling [couldn't tell if they were playing or not].

Recently there has been fewer nightmares, and traumas. The flashbacks of the war has been reduced, and is starting to tell the difference between apes playing vs. fighting. The last thing Caesar wanted to do is increase any of her problems and hurt her both physically and mentally.

They stopped standing by their hut, and faced one another.

Cornelia sighed, "I think it's time we tell her the truth."

Caesar knew that this was exactly what Cornelia was going to say. She has mentioned that Nova needed be told the truth during the past week, but Caesar procrastinated and refuses to even face their human daughter. Just yesterday, Caesar and Cornelia got into a fight about Nova's fate, and as usual, she threatened him into telling her. He remembered trying to tell Nova when she was tucked in bed, but he couldn't bring himself to say she's a human.

There's been several times that Caesar tried to tell Nova the truth, but couldn't go through with it. He couldn't traumatize her more.

Caesar shook his head which made Cornelia annoyed knowing this was exactly how he would react.

"Oh no, I couldn't face Nova and tell her she's human, she'll be devastated, maybe scarred for the rest of her life! She doesn't deserve that kind of hurt or pain…"

"Then what do you suggest, let Nova go through the rest of her life with the wrong identity?" Cornelia asked, feeling her anger catch up to her after her husband's constant refusals in the past. "She thinks she's an ape like everyone else, Caesar!"

Caesar sighed and rolled his eyes trying not to let his anger guide his thinking. He knew deep down that his wife was right, but didn't want to admit it. Cornelia reached out and put her hand on his arm and rubbed it gently as he tried to fight his forming tears.

"Letting her find out on her own would be more harmful than us just telling her the truth about who she is," Cornelia explained in a calm and gentle voice. Caesar sighed and let out a single tear. "Look at her, honey." Cornelia pointed at Nova trying to run around and scream like a ape. "We both know that she deserves the truth. This behaviour isn't natural for her."

There was a few moments of silence watching Nova.

Caesar folded his arms barely being able to choke up a response, "...Oh sweetie, I don't know if I can do it. She's on the mends of getting over her troubles."

Cornelia her back her tears thinking of the past few weeks, "You won't be doing it alone. I'll be there too. We'll both break the news to her gently."

"I wish there was an easy way to do this," Caesar replied.

"No matter how we handle this, we both know the end result," Cornelia explained to her husband, trying to stay strong. "There won't be an easy way to tell her, but we have to. It'll be better that hears it from us."

"I hate to admit this, but you're right," Caesar said quietly, letting out another tear. "It's just… I love her so much."

"I know, me too honey," Cornelia said after a moment of silence as some tears broke free, trickling down her cheeks.

Nova saw her parents watching her, once again. This was going on for the past couple of days and it's been getting her curious why they are looking at her funny. She shook her head and wiped away the bad thoughts. She waved like an ape, and grunted.

"Hello… Fa-ther… Hello… Mo-ther…" Nova greeted in a low voice, and grunted and puffed hard. She ran over like an ape, almost leaping and taking longer steps, dangling her arms.

This broke Caesar and Cornelia's heart that Nova was trying so hard to fit in and be like everyone else.

"I think… I have.. hairs grow-ing… on my.. skin!" Nova said excitedly, lifting her arm and pointed at the small transparent hairs. "Before… You… know it… I'll... have… black hairs… all over!"

"Oh honey…" Caesar replied after a moment of silence trying to gather up the courage to say something to his daughter, and felt his voice cracking up. "T-That's wonderful."

"Nova, sweetheart… we need to have a little talk," Cornelia said fighting back her tears as she led her to the hut. Caesar trailed behind. They walked inside and they all sat down on the couch. The couch is stuffed with leaves and made of fur.

Nova looked at her parents that are sitting beside her with expressions she never saw before. She didn't know how to feel at this point. Should she be scared, upset, worried, sad? What? Nova fidgeting with her fingers.

"What's going on?" Nova asked, forgetting to use her low voice because of her uneasiness. Her parents exchanged worried glances before facing Nova again.

Caesar sighed, "You know we both love you very much, right?"

Nova nodded, slightly confused.

"Yes Father."

"And that we love you for who you are and that'll never change," Cornelia added in, approaching the conversation.

Nova looked at her parents even more confused about what they were trying to tell her.

"I know, Mother."

The room dropped to dead silence for a couple moments. Caesar and Cornelia shared glances again that put Nova in a very uncomfortable place and tense up. Sweat began to form on het hands and forehead, worried about what they were trying to tell her. But she didn't want to come right out and ask as it seems that they wanted to tell her themselves. So she waited for one of them to speak up again.

"You know that everyone in this community is unique and special in their own way," Cornelia explained to Nova breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Nova asked slightly puzzled by her mother's comment. "What do you mean? Aren't we apes, you know… just apes?"

"Well honey, what your mother is trying to say is that not everyone is the same," Caesar explained for his wife who he saw was developing tears of nervousness. "If we were, then the world wouldn't be the way it is. Every ape is different, but that what makes them special."

"Oh…" Nova said after a moment, understanding what her parents were telling her.

"Do you understand what we're trying to tell you, sweetie?" Cornelia asked calmly rubbing her leg.

"That we're all different apes?" Nova asked as her parents sighed. "No?"

"I'm afraid that's not quite it, Nova," Caesar said quietly trying to build the confidence to tell her the truth but he really didn't want to. He couldn't say anything yet because it was so difficult because she didn't have the slightest clue what was going go be said.

Cornelia thought of a different approach to the topic of her being human.

"Ok, let's try this," Cornelia said to her daughter who looked up at her with those sparkling, baby blue eyes. The fact that she had no idea what they were talking about made this that much harder to tell her the truth. "Do you feel different when you play with your friends?"

Nova thought about her mother's question for a moment.

"Um, I don't know…" Nova mutters, forming tears in her eyes, looking down at her lap. She knew she never quite apart crowd, wishing she was. Nova thought about the past incidents that she was picked on because she wasn't as good as climbing, jumping, running, speaking or anything. But she always tried not to let other apes tell her off, she always hot back up and tried again to be an ape like everyone else. Whenever Nova got hurt, she didn't let it affect her chances of feeling apart of the community. Even the strange looks she's often been given, doesn't push her over the edge. Although over time of keeping all these feelings bottled up inside, has made things slowly more difficult to cope with them, and have better chances of being an ape that everyone liked. "I-I guess.."

"Baby, it's normal that you want to fit in, but you have to be yourself," Cornelia explained to her daughter who let out a tear, refusing to look at either one of them. "If you keep trying to be who you think everyone else wants you to be, it blinds you from realizing how funny, kind and sweet you are from just being you."

Caesar turned his head around knowing that they are about to tell her the truth. He felt tears being formed, and closed his eyes.

"What kind of ape am I?" Nova asked between quiet sobs.

"Honey, that's what we are trying to tell you," Caesar said as his heart was breaking at the sight of Nova hurt already and they haven't even told her. He took a deep breath knowing it was time to say it. He knew he had to say it now or else he won't be able to. "You aren't a ape, Nova. You're... human."

Nova stopped sobbing and looked up at her parents, astonished. Her eyes shot open and immediately put a hand over her mouth. She couldn't even look at her parents, or anyone else. She's… human? Nova shook her head in denial as more harder sobs came emerging on.

"No… That's impossible…" Nova mutters not being able to comprehend this. She can't believe it. She won't. Nova felt her emotions reaching its peak, boiling up to the surface. Feelings she had kept inside ever since the war. "You're lying…"

Cornelia tried to put a hand on her but Nova moved back, away from them.

"Nova darling, we know how hard this is for you to accept," Cornelia said as her eyes filled with light tears. "But please try and understand. Just because you're human, doesn't change anything. We all love you, including Uncle Maurice, Uncle Rocket, Uncle Luca, your brothers, everyone."

Nova turned away from her parents, refusing to look at them. She didn't care at all what they said. It doesn't change the fact that she's a completely different species. She can't accept the truth, she's an ape. She can't be human.

"That's right Nova, no one cares if you are an ape or not, we love you for who you are," Caesar added softly.

They all sat in silence.

"Nova… are you ok?" Cornelia asked her human daughter.

"I'm not human," Nova replied in a low tone, with tears streaming down her cheeks in denial to accept the truth. She turned to face her parents with big, puffy red eyes. She formed fists as she raised her voice, "I am not a human, ok?!"

"Sweetie, we know how difficult this is, but yelling isn't helping," Caesar tried but Nova stood up, not wanting to hear another word, feeling all of her emotions come rushing out.

"I don't care!" Nova screamed as tears fell from her eyes and hit the ground. She didn't even know what to think anymore. This is all too much for her. "You're both lying! I am an ape, I grew up with them, not humans! How could you both tell me I'm something I'm not?!"

"Honey, calm down before you say something you regret…" Cornelia said softly standing up along with her husband.

"I'm always getting picked on!" Nova shouted in emotional anger. "I wish you both would just disappear so I can have parents who can accept me as an ape!"

With that nasty, insulting remark, Nova ran out the door crying leaving her parents standing there shocked.

* * *

"Well that certainly went well…" Cornelia said sarcastically breaking the long silence, looking over at her husband that looked as if he lost everything and heart shattered. She saw tears streaming down his cheeks, staring blankly at the wooden door where Nova ran out. She sighed knowing he probably took what Nova said more seriously than she thought at first. Cornelia couldn't blame Caesar for feeling hurt of their daughter's remark, but she also knew that Nova didn't mean it. She's been going through a hard time since these past few weeks, and Nova was liable to lash out at some point.

All children at one time or another say something they regret even if they don't realize the harmful damage of their comment(s) right away. Cornelia knew once Nova calmed down and had time to think, she'd come back, but not necessarily with open arms and a smile. It'll take time for Nova to grieve and accept the truth. Psychologically for her well being both physically and mentally, it's best that she knows who she is instead of finding out the hard way.

For some reason, Cornelia couldn't help but think that Caesar took their daughter's troubles much too personally. She felt quite some sympathy for her husband battling with deep, inner struggles throughout his whole life.

"Honey… it'll be Ok," Cornelia said letting her guard down so she can have a heart to heart talk with him. "She didn't mean anything she said."

"Oh yeah, then why'd she say it?" Caesar asked, trying to fight back his emotional anger as well.

"Because she's confused," Cornelia explained as Caesar ever so slightly scoffed. "She's been through one hell of an emotional ride and adding this one on top of everything else isn't easy to deal with. We both knew what we were in for when we agreed to tell her."

There was a moment of silence until Caesar spoke up, "I know… but where did she go? We can't let Nova take off like that, especially now! We have to find her before she hurts herself!"

Caesar raced outside followed by Cornelia who restrained him from going any further into the land. In the emotional state he's at, he won't be thinking clearly and might get himself into trouble trying to get his daughter to safety.

"Caesar, calm down!" Cornelia said firmly grabbing his arms as Caesar tried to break free. After a moment, Caesar took a deep breath and knew it was worthless trying to get away from her grip on him. "I understand you are worried for our daughter, I am too." She took a breath as she put a hand on the side of his face and gently forced Caesar to look at her. "But, you aren't getting us anywhere by running off like this. Do you even know where to start looking?"

Caesar drew a breath and let his guard down. He felt tears being formed and his fists tightening.

"I feel like you are taking Nova's troubles much too personally," Cornelia admitted to her husband. "It's obvious that something is bothering you. What's wrong?"

Caesar closed his eyes and let out some tears, "I see myself through her. It's like my past is flashing before my eyes. All the hardship, pain, guilt, confusion… everything… I-I just don't want the same for Nova…"

"Or… maybe it's less about Nova and more about yourself," Cornelia said after listening intently to Caesar, looking at his expressions while he spoke, and the way he was talking. There is more to it than Caesar is letting on, and Cornelia is starting to unravel the hidden truth. Caesar opened his eyes and looked at his wife, puzzled at what she just said. "You aren't fully at peace, and seeing yourself within Nova is preventing you from accepting your past. Am I right?"

Caesar stayed silent, unable to respond.

"Honey, you say that you don't want the same for Nova, which I get," Cornelia explained. "But, if you can't fully accept who you are, and what happened to you, then how are you going to help Nova get over her problems, and be the ape everyone truly sees you as?"

Tears started to roll down his cheeks uncontrollably, not knowing how to process this. Hearing his inner problems out loud was a lot to take in. Caesar knows he has to accept what happened to him, and be a true leader to the others. He can't stick on the past forever. It's very hard to move on when so much happened in the past that affected him both physically and emotionally.

"Honey, you can't help Nova if you are afraid to face your fears and it let go," Cornelia said fighting back her tears, wrapping up her speech. "You keep running away from being vulnerable and that's not helping you or Nova." She put her hands on his shoulders and sighed in sympathy for him as she spoke softly, "Caesar, it's ok to be scared of moving on."

"And you think I'm afraid of moving on?"

"Yes," Cornelia said almost firmly. "No war, no threats… aren't ever going to be as terrifying as letting go of all the hurt and pain that you've gone through."

Caesar broke down and sobbed quietly, almost in whisper, "Oh Cornelia, I don't know if I can…"

Cornelia broke the hug and smiled tearfully at him, "You are much more stronger than you give yourself credit for. Everyone see's it, and most importantly, your children see it. I have no doubt in my mind honey, you can help Nova and yourself."

"I don't know what I did to ever deserve you," Ceasar said with leaning his head against hers. "I'm the luckiest ape in the world."

They broke apart and Cornelia smiled, "Yeah, pretty much."

Caesar laughed as they walked off to find Nova.

* * *

Nova stopped running, walked down to the lake and sat down on a log by the water. She sighed and cried into her hands as Blue Eyes wanders by and see's his adopted human sister crying. He got concerned and ran over and sat down beside her.

"Nova, what's wrong?" Blue Eyes asked full of concern. "Are you being picked on again?"

Nova removed her hands off her face and stared out, far into the lake and shook her head slowly. Blue Eyes saw how red and puffy her face was from crying. His heart immediately sank for her and didn't like the sight of Nova upset.

"Then what is it?" Blue Eyes asked softly. There was a moment of silence until Nova finally found the courage to choke up a reply.

"Mother and Father t-told me…" Nova tried but it was really hard to continue. "I-I'm human."

"Oh…" Blue Eyes responded, not knowing what to say. "Oh."

"I, I'm so confused, Blue Eyes," Nova sighed, in light tears, knowing she can trust him to the end of the planet and back. "Who am I?"

"You're Nova," Blue Eyes said, basically making up a good answer as he goes along. Nova turned her head and faces him. "You're my little sister. I wouldn't trade you for a new ape sister, or anything in the world."

Nova raised her brow puzzled and asked quietly, "But, I'm different. Why wouldn't you or Mother and Father want a new little girl ape?"

"Don't you see, Nova?" Blue Eyes said with a smile putting a hand on her leg and squeezed it gently. "That's why we love you." Nova continued to look at him confused. "It doesn't matter to us if you are human, a monkey, or any kind of animal. You are one of us, because you're special for just being Nova. Not something you truly aren't. Be you, and I promise things will get better."

"Be me?" Nova asked curiously looking at her brother who nodded. Their parents found them. Caesar tried to approach them but Cornelia stopped him and gave him a look. "I don't know how to be me. I don't know what you all see in me."

"I see a sweet, funny, kind girl with a great sense of humor," Blue Eyes said with a small smile. "Just stop beating yourself up over someone you're not, and discover what makes you Nova."

"How?" Nova asked curiously.

"I can't tell you that," Blue Eyes finishing counselling Nova. "That happens over time. The first step I would suggest is, go have fun with everyone and don't be self conscious." Blue Eyes chuckled and nudged her. "Go, I insist you have some fun."

Nova laughed and hugged Blue Eyes tightly which he received.

"Thanks, Blue Eyes."

They broke the hug and Nova sighed.

"I better go apologize to Mother and Father. I was rather rude to them earlier."

As Nova stood up and turned around, she saw her parents approaching her and Blue Eyes.

"Hi," Nova said, ashamed of her behaviour and looked down at her feet. "I-I'm sorry, for what I said, and um, taking off like that. You must've been worried."

Cornelia and Caesar looked at each other and sighed.

"We were," Cornelia started. "But, we're glad you aren't hurt."

Nova sniffled from her crying and looked up at her parents. The sight of her so visibly upset, broke their hearts. Who wants to see their child so sad and emotional like this? Seeing her so upset brought flashbacks of the past to Caesar and he quickly shook them off as best as he could.

"I wasn't sure if you two would ever forgive me," Nova sighed in tears.

"We do forgive you, honey," Caesar replied putting a hand on her shoulder.

"But I told you guys to disappear!" Nova said, sobbing harder. "I basically said I wanted new parents!" Nova cried hard as Cornelia brought her into a hug and rubbed her back in small circles. "I don't want new parents, I want you both back! You're my Mother and Father!"

They leaned down to Nova's height and smiled tearfully.

"We want you back, Nova," Caesar said holding her hand. "That is, if you are ok with us not being the perfect parents you hoped for."

Nova chuckled and smiled tearfully back at them, "No. You are the perfect parents… and if you guys are ok with be being…" Nova gulped and knew she was ready to accept herself for who she is, after having that talk with Blue Eyes. "A human."

Cornelia and Caesar gasped softly. They looked at each other surprised of what Nova just said.

"Oh honey," Cornelia responded with joyful tears. "Of course."

They brought Nova into a hug as she hugged back, letting out joyful tears.

"We love you," Caesar whispered in her ear as they broke the hug.

"I love you both too," Nova said as they smiled at her. She faced her Father and continued. "Thank you, Father."

Caesar looked at her confused for a moment, "For what?"

"For being there for me," Nova explained. "With everything you've gone through, I didn't realize how hard it must've been for you. You know, dealing with my nightmares… and.." Rolls her eyes and scoffs with a smile. "My traumas." Caesar and Cornelia laughed very quietly. "You really are the best father ever."

Nova leaned in and hugged Caesar. He instantly received it and chuckled with tears in his eyes. Right at this moment, he knew moving on from the past won't be as difficult as he originally thought. For now on, helping Nova with her emotional and physical problems will be much easier, knowing he will be able to help himself let the past stay in the past. By doing that, he can accept who he is and be an even stronger leader everyone in the community sees in him. Those thoughts warmed his heart greatly. He felt better than he did in a long time.

He broke the hug and leaned his forehead against Nova's as they smiled and closed their eyes.

"Can I go play now?" Nova asked happily as they broke apart.

Cornelia nodded, "Yes. Go and have fun. Make sure you and Cornelius are home in time for dinner."

"Ok, I will!" Nova shouted excitedly as she ran off to go play with the other apes.

Blue Eyes stood up and sighed, "Thank goodness that's over."

Caesar and Cornelia looked at Blue Eyes with smiles of such pride, seeing what a handsome and mature ape he is turning out to be.

"What?" Blue Eyes questioned feeling uncomfortable. "You both know I hate it when you look at me like that!"

They laughed as Caesar put a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Thank you, son, for talking to Nova."

"You really helped us out," Cornelia added in with a smile. "We're so proud of you."

Blue Eyes's cheeks flushed and smiled small, "Thanks Mother, Father."

They began walking away from the lake, with Caesar's arm around his shoulders as Cornelia walked next to them, talking and laughing.

 _ **The end.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Nova's First Period

Nova is bit nauseous, and her stomach was hurting in ways she never felt before. The pain was located down in her lower stomach. Nova didn't think it was serious because the dull aching comes and goes all the time. She thought she might been experiencing a stomach ache from something she previously ate. But, every time she tried to use the washroom, nothing happened. So, Nova knew it wasn't something she ate.

Lately, she couldn't do much walking without the stomach cramps coming back. Nova also didn't feel like doing much activities in the communities, or just about anything… just being a lot more tired and lazy. She occasionally snapped rudely at her parents, or just about anyone who tried to talk to her.

Nova's been warned not to talk back, say a rude comment, or make faces. She doesn't know why she's feeling different emotions and it confused her. Nova has briefly mentioned the stomach aches to her parents, but didn't make a big speech out of it and just said it must be something she ate, not wanting to concern them in any way. She didn't mention her pains again, hoping that they would just go away.

But they didn't and it's been days, and Nova's getting tired of these on and off pains, mood swings and laziness. She just wants to get back to normal and enjoy herself everyday. That is clearly not been the case recently.

Nova is sitting on the couch, resting one hand on her stomach, annoyed at everything in plain sight.

Cornelius walks into the living room, and notices Nova who seems to be in one of her moods, again. He sighs.

"Hey," Cornelius tried with a small smile, standing by the couch. Nova glances at her brother and rolls her eyes. "So… how are you?"

Nova scoffs, "Really?"

"Nova, what's going on with you?" Cornelius asked, sitting down next to her on the couch. "You've been acting… I don't know… off. You haven't been outside much, and having a bit of an attitude with, well, everyone."

Nova breaks down into tears and buried her head into her hands, "I don't know."

"Are you still having tummy pains?" Cornelius asked, as Nova faced him, curiously.

"How'd you know?"

Cornelius chuckled, "It's kind of obvious, Nova. You had your hands on your tummy when I walked in here."

Nova sighs and nods, "Yeah, I am. I don't know what's going on with me, Cornelius. I wake up feeling all dragged out in the morning, and I get these on and off tummy aches… and developing laziness!"

"Do Mother and Father know?" Cornelius asked, a bit concerned for his sister.

"No… well that's not entirely true," Nova explained to her brother, fidgeting with her fingers. "I kinda mentioned it to them a few days ago. I thought at the time it was something I ate."

"And it's not?"

"No!" Nova snapped at Cornelius, more harshly than she intended. "It wouldn't last this long if it was something I ate!"

"Ok, ok, sheesh," Cornelius responds, nervously. "You don't have to get nasty about it."

Nova's face softened, feeling guilty for being rude to Cornelius who was in fact, trying to help her.

"I'm sorry, Cornelius," Nova replied. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

Cornelius smiled small, "It's ok. What else do you think it could be?"

Nova shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

Blue Eyes has listened to a part of the conversation and thought of a really funny joke to play on Cornelius and Nova. He thought it was somewhat mean, but he knew that they wouldn't take it seriously at all. He walked into the living room to go outside the front door, acting casual.

"Maybe you're going to have a baby," Blue Eyes said, hiding his smile as he walked out the door.

Nova glared at him as he walked outside. Cornelius chuckled slightly as Nova shot him a cold glare.

"You have to admit it's kinda funny," Cornelius responds with a smile. "You carrying a baby; I mean come on Nova, think about it for a moment. How silly is that?"

Nova thought about it for a moment and a smile appeared on her lips. She began to chuckle, then laugh along with Cornelius for a few moments.

"That is kinda silly," Nova said after laughing along with her brother. "I mean, I don't know what's wrong with my tummy. Maybe the baby is making me feel sick!"

Cornelius stifled a laugh, "Yeah. Maybe I'm going to be called Uncle Cornelius!"

"And Mother and Father will be Grandpa and Grandma!" Nova added in as Cornelius laughed so hard he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Oh that'll be so funny, imagine Father and Mother finding out you're going to be a mother!"

They laughed for a few more moments and calmed down. Nova then began to think about it seriously for a second. She actually doesn't know what's wrong with her stomach. Is there a slight possibility that she is having a baby?

"Cornelius, am I going to have a baby?" Nova asked, beginning to get scared of the possibility.

Cornelius stopped laughing and faced Nova who looked nervously at him. He sighs.

"What?" Cornelius asked in disbelief. "Nova come on, you aren't actually going to take what Blue Eyes said seriously, are you?"

"Well think about it, I have these pains in my tummy and I feel a little sick," Nova explained to him. Cornelius listened intently, starting to get worried. "I know I didn't eat something to upset my tummy. What else could it be, Cornelius?"

"I-I I don't know," Cornelius responds worried, not knowing what else to think. "Gas?"

Nova rolled her eyes, "I don't think gas lasts for days, Cornelius."

They sat in silence before starting to panick.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant," Cornelius said quietly, worried for his sister now. "You're going to have a baby."

"Please Cornelius, don't go on about it," Nova said beginning to swell with tears in her eyes. She looked down at her stomach, and placed a hand on it. Rubbing her abdomen in circles, trying to remain calm. "I just, oh man… what am I going to do?"

"You should tell Father, or Mother," Cornelius replied.

"What?!" Nova shouted which startled Cornelius. "They'll kill me! Maybe faint first, but once they get up, they'll kill me!"

"I know that!" Cornelius said, recovering from getting startled. "Don't directly tell them, but at least hint around them for advice on what to do."

Nova thought about what her brother said for a moment. She can't tell her parents she's pregnant, they'll ground her, yell, or worse. But, she needed to find out what she needs to do next. What's better than asking your parents for advice on any topic? Especially with a situation like this.

"Yeah, that may be the best thing I can do," Nova eventually responded, fidgeting with her fingers nervously.

"You might as well go and get it over with," Cornelius said as Nova sighs.

"Ok," Nova said standinding up, feeling quite scared to go and talk to her parents. How is she going to even talk to them about babies? She doesn't even know how they are made, and yet she ends up pregnant. "I'll let you know what happens."

Cornelius nodded as Nova left the hut to go find her parents. She walked around the community for a while until she found them wandering around, making sure everything is in order for today. Nova felt sweaty and nervous as hell to talk to them, but she knew that she had to. She walked up to them and tried to force the best smile she could.

"Hi," Nova greeted, as her parents smiled at her. "You mind if I tag along for a bit? I have some stuff to ask you."

"Not at all honey," Cornelia responded as they began walking.

"What's on your mind kiddo?" Caesar asked nicely.

"Oh not much… um Mother, what would you do if you found out if you-" Nova began to ask, but she cut herself short, feeling her nerves catching up to her. She gulped, not knowing if she could continue or not.

"If what, sweetie?" Cornelia asked, a tad bit concerned seeing the worried look on her daughter's face.

"Uh, if you were going to have a baby?" Nova blurted out, as her parent's eyes shot open, obviously shocked by her question. This made Nova incredibly unsettled.

Caesar and Cornelia looked at each other, absolutely floored by their daughter's question. Why would she ask that? Does she want another sibling? Well, she is in the transitioning phase of thinking about those "things" involved with "The Talk", but she and Cornelius are still too young to be given any facts. Blue Eyes just been given that discussion a couple weeks ago, and that incident was enough to make them feel unsettled. They are both only 9 ½ years old.

"If I was going to have a baby?" Cornelia repeated as Nova nodded.

"Nova, do you want another sibling?" Caesar asked. "Is that why you are asking this?"

Nova shook her head, "No, I mean, sure, yes, I um… I was just curious if you were, Mother. What would you do?"

Cornelia looked at her daughter oddly. Where is this talk about babies coming from?

"Well, first I'd tell your Father," Cornelia explained. "Then we'd get things ready for the new arrival, like, toys, um, a bed, milk… and a bedroom."

"Oh…" Nova said, taking in everything her Mother said intently and seriously. "Mother, do babies make tummies feel sick?"

"I suppose they do, sometimes," Cornelia responded, getting concerned why Nova is asking all these questions about babies.

"Do babies always have Mothers and Fathers?" Nova finally asked.

"Yes they all do," Caesar answered. "Nova, why this sudden interest in babies? You never brought this up before."

"Um, I was curious because my friend has a new baby brother," Nova lied. She hated lying to her parents, but the truth would be much more dramatic and worse. She felt bad lying, and she's hoping her conscious won't get the best of her and spill the truth. But, she knew she has to eventually say something because when the baby gets here, there will be a lot of explaining to do then. This isn't the right time. "I-I have to go now, um, see you later."

Caesar and Cornelia watched as their daughter ran back towards the hut. When they were sure Nova was out of sight, they sighed heavily and faced each other, a tad bit worried.

"That was… an odd conversation," Caesar said breaking the silence.

Cornelia nodded, "Yes it was."

"I wonder what brought that on," Caesar continued.

"She said her friend had a new baby brother," Cornelia responded folding her arms as they walked down the main path.

"How much of that do you believe? Nova seemed like she's hiding something."

"I don't believe it," Cornelia responded as Caesar nodded in agreement. "She's definitely hiding something."

"Is Nova in some sort of trouble?" Caesar asked as they stopped and faced each other.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she is," Cornelia explained to her husband. "But, it looks like she doesn't want to come to us with her problem."

"Shouldn't we ask what the trouble is?"

Cornelia shook her head, "No. We'll wait and let her come to us. I sense it's safer that way."

"You're right," Caesar said with a smile. "Let's finish patrol."

Cornelia nodded as they started walking down the main path hand in hand.

…

Nova walked inside the hut, and faced Cornelius who stood up and walked over to her anxious to know what happened.

"So?" Cornelius asked, impatiently. "What did they say?"

"Well, we need to get things ready for the baby," Nova explained to her brother. "Like a bed, toys, milk… a bedroom."

Cornelius nodded, "I think we have milk in the kitchen."

"We have old toys we hardly use," Nova added in as he agreed with a sigh. "What about that spare room next to Blue Eyes' room? We don't use it for anything. It's just there collecting dust."

"That's a good idea," Cornelius replied folding his arms.

"But the problem is, I have no idea who the father is!"

"Can't you just pick any male ape?" Cornelius asked confused.

"I guess that's what I have to do," Nova agreed. They stood there in silence trying to think of an ape that'll be suitable to be a father to this baby. Nova's eyes lit up and snapped her fingers. "You'll be the father, Cornelius."

Cornelius gasped shocked and his mouth hung open, "Me?!"

"Yeah, I don't know many male apes anyways and I want to find an ape that I know will be a good father," Nova explained to her brother.

"What about Blue Eyes?" Cornelius suggested as Nova shook her head.

"As much as I love Blue Eyes, he can be bossy and annoying, plus he's older than we are," Nova responded. "He's already a teenager ape."

"You have a point there," Cornelius said after a moment of thinking about what his sister has told him.

"So, will you do it?" Nova asked with a small smile.

Cornelius took a deep breath and slowly nodded, "Ok, I'll be the father."

"Gee, thanks Cornelius," Nova said with a smile, rubbing his arm.

"Yeah yeah, let's just get the room setup," Cornelius said with a sigh and an eye roll, turning around and walking to their bedroom to pack up the toys to move down the hall to the spare room. Nova sighed, placing a hand on her stomach before following behind.

…

Nova walked into the room where she found Cornelius putting the toys next to the bed on the floor.

"I think that's it," Cornelius said, facing Nova.

"Well, all we have to do is wait for the baby to come," Nova said before getting pains in her lower stomach again. But this time it was more intense than before. She groaned in pain, clutching onto her stomach.

"Nova, is it the baby, what's wrong?" Cornelius asked, going into a state of panic.

Nova felt like she had to go to the bathroom and have a major diarrhea attack. She didn't even have time to respond to her brother and ran to the bathroom down the hall, next to the living room. She slammed the door behind her and sat on the toilet, pulling down her pants.

Cornelius stood on the other side of the door, knocking repeatedly.

"Nova! Is everything ok?! What's going on?"

Nova gasped seeing a few red drops of blood on her panties and began to swell up with tears. Tears trickled down her cheeks and began to panic; freaking out. Does this mean the baby is on it's way? What is she supposed to do, she didn't even tell her parents about the baby yet and it's coming? She began to cry into her hands, not knowing what to do now.

Cornelius heard his sister crying from the other side of the door and got worried.

"Nova, are you ok? Is the baby ok? Can you please tell me what's happening?"

Nova knew that Cornelius is the father and the only other ape that knew about the baby. He had to know, no matter how embarrassing the situation currently is. She pulled herself together and sniffled from her uncontrollable sobs.

"Cornelius, the baby… I think it's coming!" Nova said scared to death, sitting on the toilet.

"Oh my god, are you serious?!" Cornelius replied, almost like he was shouting, in full on panic mode. "What are we going to do?!"

"I don't know, I never thought that far ahead!" Nova harshly snapped in between sobs. "I thought I'd have more time!"

"Well, I don't know how to deliver a baby!" Cornelius shot back, pacing the floor outside of the bathroom door, trying to come up with a solution. "Can't you hold it in until I can find an ape to help us?"

"How can I hold in a baby, Cornelius?!" Nova yelled in tears before gasping, seeing another drop of blood fall into the toilet. She began to sob more, freaking out. "I don't think the baby wants to wait any longer!"

"Oh no!" Cornelius replied panicking as he saw his parents walking towards the hut.

"What?"

"It's our parents, I think you are going to have to start pushing the baby out because I don't know how long I can stall them…" Cornelius said quickly worried, as he saw them approaching the hut.

"Oh, now?" Nova said gripping into the sides of the toilet with her hands, positioning herself to get ready to start pushing.

"Just do it!" Cornelius snapped as his parents entered the hut side by side. They saw their son by the bathroom with a small smile.

"Hey son," Caesar greeted as they walked over to him.

Cornelius forced a smile, panting and trying to act normal, "H-hi, I'm fine! E-everything's fine! Nova's fine, d-don't you worry about Nova!"

Cornelius nervously chuckled as his parents looked at each other, then at him suspiciously.

Cornelia crossed her arms at her son seeing right through him that he was hiding something about Nova that he obviously didn't want them to know.

"Ok, what's going on?"

"Nothing, w-what makes you think something's going on?" Cornelius stammered, sweating, not looking at his parents directly in the eyes because it tempts him to spill the truth.

"Well for one, you aren't looking at us, you are visibly nervous and shaking," Caesar replied to his son as he puts hand on the door and pants hard. "Why are you blocking off the bathroom?"

"I'm not, I just like standing here," Cornelius said, removing his hand off the door and forced another smile.

"Ok, then you don't mind if I go use the washroom," Cornelius said heading to the door. Cornelius panicked and jumped in front of her, spreading his arms and legs across the length of the door.

"No, you can't go in there!" Cornelius said firmly, in a scared tone.

"Why not?" Caesar asked, getting concerned about what Cornelius is hiding from them.

"Why not?" Cornelius repeated, running out of excuses to stall them knowing they are already very suspicious of his behaviour. "Why not? Um, that's a very good question, father. Why don't you and mother go and sit on that question, and we'll discuss it later… like next week?"

"You know that's not helping you, right Cornelius?" Cornelia said putting her hands on her hips.

Cornelius sighed, "And that's probably why I don't have an answer."

Before either parent could say another word, they heard moaning coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

"What's that sound?" Caesar asked his son who began to panic more.

"W-what sound?" Cornelius said nervously as the moaning became more louder and intense.

"Ok, move over son," Caesar said gently pushing Cornelius out of the way and knocked on the door. "Nova? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" Nova said scared to death sitting on the toilet seeing nothing come out except a few drops of blood, in pain.

"Nova honey, it's me," Cornelia said soothingly knocking on the door as Caesar moved aside. "Can I come in? I promise it'll be just me."

Nova sat in silence before starting to sob uncontrollably knowing that she might as well tell her mother before her father starts yelling at her.

"O-ok," Nova said quietly as Cornelia nodded to both Caesar and Cornelius. Cornelius hesitated at first but his father insisted. When Cornelia knew they were both in the living room, away from the bathroom, she sighed and slowly opened the door finding Nova sitting on the toilet in tears. She rushed by her side and knelt down to her height.

"Nova, what's going on honey?" Cornelia asked in a soothing yet concerned tone.

"I-I, I'm going to have a baby," Nova admitted in tears as Cornelia's eyes widened confused why her daughter thinks she's pregnant. She put her hand on Nova's leg and rubbed it gently.

"Sweetie, why on earth do you think you're pregnant?" Cornelia asked worried.

Nova sniffled from her crying and spread her legs out to show her mother the blood on her panties. Cornelia looked down and gasped softly and sighed, piecing everything together. About all her questions on babies and why she was acting unusual today.

"Nova, sweetheart, look at me," Cornelia said as Nova slowly raised her head and revealed big, puffy red eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can one hundred percent promise, you are not having a baby."

Nova looked at her mother curiously, "I'm not?"

Cornelia chuckled softly and shook her head slowly, "No."

"Then why am I leaking?" Noca asked getting scared again.

"Honey, what you are experiencing is completely normal," Cornelia said with a small smile. "I think it's time to have a little mother to daughter talk after we get you cleaned up."

Nova sighed and wiped the tears off her face and nodded as Cornelia helped her off the toilet. They left the bathroom as Caesar turned around on the couch and saw how upset Nova looked, seeing her red face from crying.

Cornelia smiled small to reassure him everything's fine.

"I'll explain later," Cornelia responded almost in whisper as Caesar nodded.

…

About a half hour later, Cornelia returned into the living room and folded her arms with a sigh.

Caesar looked up at his wife slightly worried as she sat down next to him on the couch. Cornelius crawled over to his parents concerned about Nova and the baby.

"Well, how is she?" Cornelius asked before Caesar had a chance to say a single word. "Is the baby ok? Is it a boy or a girl?"

Caesar's eyes shot open completely taken aback by his son's questions. With his mouth slightly hung open, he exchanged glances between Cornelia and Cornelius, barely able to comprehend this unusual information.

"What baby?" Caesar finally asked as his wife chuckled seeing how shocked his facial expression is. "What's going on here?"

"Cornelius, your sister is not pregnant," Cornelia said soothingly with a small smile as Cornelius sighed in relief, but confused on why she's not.

"Thank goodness," Cornelius mutters taking a deep breath. "Then why is she having tummy aches?"

"What is happening here?" Caesar jumps in impatiently curious about this conversation taking place between his wife and son. "Can someone catch me up because I feel like a third wheel now."

Cornelia chuckled at her husband and turned to her son, "Cornelius, I need to talk to your father alone."

Cornelius nodded and stood up. He walked away to the bedroom he shared with Nova down the hall. Once he was in the other room, Cornelia turned to Caesar and put a hand on his leg.

"It seems our daughter isn't so little anymore," Cornelia admitted softly with a deep breath.

"What?" Caesar asked confused.

"Nova is now entering puberty…" Cornelia continued before giving her husband a look. "If you know what I mean."

"But what does-" Caesar started before catching onto his wife's expression and quickly put the pieces together. He stopped talking and swallowed slowly, thinking about her questions on babies earlier as well as her moody behaviour and sore stomachs. Caesar could barely sink in this information. He started to feel light headed and was thankful he was sitting down or else he might've fainted. "Oh…"

"Honey, you're beginning to look pale," Cornelia finally said, concerned of his sickening face. "Are you ok?"

"I'm good, I'm good," Caesar said snapping out of his thoughts with dry throat.

"Caesar, we knew this was coming," Cornelia explained to her husband. "It's the facts of life."

"I just didn't expect her to be growing up this fast, it feels like we're losing her, you know?" Caesar choked up with tears in his eyes. "It's different… she's developing her maturity… and slowly drifting away from us."

"Oh honey," Cornelia said bringing him into a hug in which he received right away letting a tear fall down her face. "We aren't losing her." She broke the hug and put a hand on his face and rubbed his cheek. "Sure, our relationships with Nova isn't going to be the same as it used to be… but it'll grow into something new and special. Nova is still going to need us as her parents… as well as our sons."

Cornelia released her hand off his cheek as Caesar tearfully smiled at her.

"I know… but it's just hard to accept that our children are becoming more independent," Caesar replied ad Cornelia nodded in agreement.

"I get it, I feel the same way, but we have to cope with it," Cornelia replied with a small smile, then she chuckled. "Caesar, I hate to be the one to tell you this but we are eventually going to be the parents of three teenagers."

Caesar laughed heartily with tears in his eyes and held his hands with hers.

"Oh boy, I can't wait until that day comes," Caesar replied sarcastically with a laugh.

"Well be prepared my darling husband, because it will arrive before you know it," Cornelia said with a smile standing up as well as Caesar who chuckled at her comment. "And then boys will enter Nova's life, and girls for Cornelius… and I think Blue Eyes will be anytime now."

"Oh no, they won't be dating until they're all my age!" Caesar said stubbornly as Cornelia laughed and nudged him in the arm. "Nobody is good enough for _my_ children."

"Look at you, they aren't even there yet and you're already becoming a overprotective father," Cornelia said with a chuckle as Caesar rolled his eyes and gave her a small smile.

"Good thing I have you to point out the obvious," Caesar said as they headed towards the kitchen together.

"Good thing you're around to never notice the obvious right away," Cornelia responded as they laughed. After a moment, they heard their children fighting down the hall.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to have a conversation here!" Cornelius said firmly.

Caesar put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Does it look like I want to hear your side of the story?!" Nova shot back.

"God, will you two keep it down, I'm trying to read!" Blue Eyes snapped at both of them from across the hall.

Caesar and Cornelia exchanged looks before bursting into laughter hearing their children fighting.

"Oh boy, it looks like we're in for another one," Cornelia said calming down from laughing as well as her husband.

"After you, dear," Caesar said with a smile, extending his arm out to the hall where their children were fighting. She sighs and smiles at him.

"Thank you, your highness," Cornelia replied sarcastically as they chuckled and walked down the hall to find out what happened.

 **The end.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Forgotten Party

**This is inspired by a "Leave It To Beaver" episode called "Forgotten Party" (2x36: June 4th, 1959).**

Cornelius and his ape friend, Arthur walked up to the front of the hut side by side after school taught by his Uncle Maurice.

"Hey, what are you doing this Saturday, Cornelius?" Arthur asked as Cornelius shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, that's a whole four days from now," Cornelius responds standing at the front of the door. "I'm too busy thinking about tomorrow's stuff to worry about Saturday stuff… why?"

"Oh they are finally opening that new park by the school," Arthur said excitedly as Cornelius's eyes shot open and a smile formed on his face. "Do you want to go with me Saturday?"

"Sure, that sounds fun," Cornelius said with a smile. "I better go inside before my mother starts asking a lot of questions."

Arthur nodded, "Yeah. Too bad all mothers are so nosy."

"Definitely."

"See ya, Cornelius," Arthur said as they parted ways. Cornelius walks inside and walks down the hall to his room he shared with Nova. He walks in and finds his mother making their beds.

"Hi mother," Cornelius greeted as Cornelia looked up and smiled at her son as she changed the sheets.

"Cornelius, aren't you late coming home?" Cornelia questioned her son as he put down his books and paper beside his bed.

"Arthur and I stopped by and saw Uncle Luca," Cornelius explained as his mother sighs and tucked in the sheet corners under the bed.

"That's nice, how is he?" Cornelia asked, while grabbing the pillows and fluffing them with her hands.

"He's fine, but any ape who works out as much as Uncle Luca has got to be ready to give someone the business," Cornelius said watching his mother make his bed.

Cornelia looked at her son and chuckled softly, "Sweetheart, you know Uncle Luca doesn't go around and give apes the _business_."

"I know it, but he doesn't need to start the fight, only when they deserve it," Cornelius responds to his mother who looks at him surprised by his choice of words.

"Cornelius, that is not appropriate," Cornelia said sternly giving him a warning look, putting the pillows back on her son's bed. "You know darn well Uncle Luca doesn't do that, and I certainly hope you aren't."

"Oh no I'm not," Cornelius said backing off seeing the look on his mother's face. "Then that means Father will find out and yell at me."

"For heaven's sake Cornelius, when has your father ever yelled at any of you?" Cornelia asked with an eye roll walking over to change Nova's bedsheets.

"All the time, mother," Cornelius replied as Cornelia ever so slightly scoffed as she began to remove the sheets from her daughter's bed. "I bet fathers like to wait until you goof up something so they can yell at you."

"Honey, your father doesn't like to get mad at you and your siblings," Cornelius said walking out of the bedroom with the sheets followed by her son, to the backyard.

"You mean Father doesn't enjoy yelling at us?" Cornelius asked confused as Cornelia rolled her eyes.

She puts down the sheets on the bench and faced Cornelius half annoyed. "Of course not! If you all just listen and behave, then your father wouldn't have to do that."

"Yeah but if we all did that, then that takes out half the fun of being a kid," Cornelius said as Cornelia folds her arms and gives him the tiniest of smiles.

Cornelius walked inside as Cornelia laughed slightly and shook her head going back to doing the laundry for Nova's bed.

Cornelius walks into the living room and hears the phone ringing.

"I'll get it!" Cornelius shouted as he ran to the phone on the table next to the couch and picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hi is this Cornelius?" The male ape asked on the other line as Cornelius made a confused look on his face not recognizing the voice.

"Yeah, this is Cornelius."

"This is Theodore, how are you Cornelius?" Theodore asked sitting on a chair in the living room.

"I'm fine," Cornelius said walking over and sat down on the couch, holding the phone. His face it up remembering his old friend, Theodore. "How are you, Theo?"

"I'm good," Theodore replied with a smile. "I want to ask you something."

"Sure Theo, what do you want to ask me?" Cornelius repeated, happily reconnecting with an old friend.

"I'm having a birthday party Saturday, could you come?" Theodore asked with excitement holding the phone.

Cornelius sat in thought for a moment until he spoke up, "This Saturday? Yeah, I can come, what time?"

"High noon, and hey Cornelius… do you remember me?" Theodore asked nervously hoping he remembered him because it would be a huge let down if he didn't.

"Of course, you and I used to be good friends before you moved away from my neighborhood," Cornelius responds with a smile.

"Ok good," Theodore replied taking a deep breath in relief. "I didn't want to invite you if you didn't remember me. You're the only ape from the old neighborhood that my parents let me invite because you're my best friend."

Cornelius got confused and asked, "I am?"

"Yeah, and you be there because I practically had to beg and complain a lot to get my parents to agree," Theodore explained to his friend. "I also used Caesar is your father and he saved all of us, and that convinced them."

"Yeah ok, I'll be there Theodore," Cornelius responds with an eye roll annoyed about how often all of the kids use that phrase. "Bye."

Cornelius hung up the phone as Nova walked over to him.

"Who was that?" Nova asked standing next to the phone.

"Theodore," Cornelius said ripping out a piece of paper to write down the time of the party.

"Oh I remember him!" Nova said with a smile. "What did he want?"

"None of your business, Nova," Cornelius said looking up at the after writing the time down on a slip of paper and left it on the table.

"Cornelius!" Nova snapped at him. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Do I have to tell my sister all my plans?" Cornelius said standing up as Nova scoffed. "You don't tell me everything."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean you have to be rude about it," Nova replied feeling insulted and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. Blue Eyes walked in from the front door and saw his two siblings in the kitchen.

"Hi guys," Blue Eyes greeted happily walking into the kitchen as well.

"Oh hi," Cornelius greeted back. "Hey Blue Eyes, can I take a picture of you doing a muscle?"

"Why?" Blue Eyes asked as Nova covered her mouth from laughing at Cornelius' comment.

"Well, I haven't used a human camera before and I want to see if it still works," Cornelius explained to his older brother telling half the truth.

Before Blue Eyes was able to respond, Nova cut in with a sneaky smile.

"He said if someone picks on him, he'll show your picture and tell who's going to beat them up," Nova said as Cornelius turned around and have her a cold glare.

"Squealer!"

Blue Eyes rolled his eyes and sighed annoyed, "That's stupid, Cornelius. I'm not doing that."

"Oh come on," Cornelius whined as he started following Blue Eyes towards the hall. "Just let me take it!"

Cornelia walked in from the backyard with Nova's bedsheets and saw that Blue Eyes is home from school.

"Hi Blue Eyes," Cornelia also greeted as Blue Eyes smiled at her.

"Hi Mother."

"Who was on the phone, Cornelius?" Cornelia asked her youngest son.

"Oh no one mother, just some ape kid," Cornelius said as he followed Blue Eyes down the hall to his room. "Come on Blue Eyes, just one picture!"

"I don't want any fighting you two," Cornelia said as she followed them down the hall to go to Nova and Cornelius' room across from Blue Eye's room, to put the bedsheets on Nova's bed.

…

Caesar is in the kitchen putting his dish away as Cornelia called him from the living room.

"Caesar, can you come here please?"

Caesar put the dish in the bucket on the counter and walked in seeing Cornelia holding a piece of paper in her hand.

"Is this something you wrote?" Cornelia asked showing him the piece of paper. "It says high noon."

Caesar takes a closer look and examines the printing. He shook his head and stifled a laugh, "No, it looks like Cornelius' scribbling. Remember he likes to write down the correct times so he doesn't make a mistake trying to tell the time from the sun?"

Cornelia chuckles and puts down the paper on the table next to the phone.

"Right," Cornelia replies as Arthur and Cornelius walk in and heads towards the front door.

"Bye mother, bye father, we're heading out," Cornelius said as he opened the door but Arthur walks over to them.

"Oh hi Caesar, Cornelia," Arthur greets as Cornelia smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Hi Arthur, we didn't hear you come in."

"I walked in while you and Caesar were eating breakfast," Arthur explained to both of them. "I went straight to Cornelius' room. Don't worry, I didn't break anything."

Caesar and Cornelia shared glances and chuckled seeing how cute Arthur is, and how similar his personality is to Cornelius. No wonder they are such good friends.

"We're glad you didn't break anything Arthur," Caesar said with a smile leaning against the table.

"Well you two have fun, and Cornelius, make sure you and Nova are home for dinner," Cornelia said turning around to face her son who is holding the door open.

Cornelius nodded, Yes Mother."

Cornelia gets annoyed seeing that Cornelius is still holding the door open. She must've told him at least a hundred times not to leave the door wide open like that.

"For heaven's sake Cornelius, don't leave the door open," Cornelia said firmly as Caesar chuckled seeing her discipline Cornelius. "You're going to let in all the bugs!"

"Ok, ok!" Cornelius said as they left closing the door behind them.

"I haven't seen Blue Eyes all morning, what do you suppose he's up to?" Cornelia asked her husband who shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but an teenaged ape who is not outside with his friends on a Saturday has got to be up to something," Caesar explained to his wife who nodded in agreement. He walked over to the hallway and called for him. "Blue Eyes!"

Blue Eyes walked out of his room and down the hall.

"Yeah Father?"

"What are you doing inside still?" Cornelia asked her oldest son.

"Well, I have to finish my writing exercise," Blue Eyes replied to his parents. "Uncle Maurice gave it back to me because I didn't write enough words."

"How many words are you supposed to have?" Cornelia questioned folding her arms.

"Fifty."

"So you're just rewriting the paper?" Caesar added into the conversation, standing next to Cornelia.

Blue Eyes shook his head, "No, I'm just cramming in twenty more words."

"Well may I suggest son, that after you _cram_ in those twenty words, that you rewrite the paper," Caesar explained to his son giving him a warning look as if Blue Eyes didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Yes Father," Blue Eyes said with a small smile as he headed back to his room to finish his homework.

...

Cornelia is in the living room straightening up while Caesar is on the couch relaxing with his feet up. The phone starts to ring and Cornelia walks over and picks it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Cornelia?" Theodore's mother, Julia asks with her son standing next to her anxiously. "It's Theodore's mother."

Cornelia's face lit up with a smile, "Oh hi Julia! It's been such a long time."

"I hope I'm not disturbing you-" Julia starts but pauses to push Theodore away from her leg. She went back to the phone. "Anyways, is Cornelius on his way over? We're just about to sit down for lunch and Theodore is getting a little worried."

"Theodore?" Cornelia asked confused as Caesar sat up, getting interested in the phone conversation.

"Yes, it's his birthday and everyone's here but Cornelius," Julia explained through the phone as Theodore tapped her leg again.

"Is he coming?"

"Stop it!" Julia snapped at her son before going back on the phone. "He knows it's today doesn't he?"

Cornelia is absolutely shocked of what she's hearing. She could barely put any words into her mouth because she felt so embarrassed that the party is held up because of Cornelius.

"Well… um, Julia, there must be a misunderstanding," Cornelia stammered at a loss for words.

"Cornelius will be here won't he?" Julia asked as she pushed Theodore off her again. "I mean, Theo would be absolutely devastated if he doesn't show up."

"Oh dear, well don't get upset Julia," Cornelia said feeling just awful that this misinformation happened. She couldn't let them down now. "I'll have Cornelius there as soon as possible."

"Ok, thank you so much."

They both hung up their phones.

…

Cornelia started to pace the floor anxiously, then ran over to the hallway and shouted, "Blue Eyes!"

"What's going on?" Caesar asked concerned standing beside his wife.

"Cornelius forgot about Theodore's birthday party," Cornelia explain in a state of distress as she called out for her son again. "Blue Eyes!"

"How could he forget about his birthday party?" Caesar asked absolutely shocked as Blue Eyes began walking down the hall.

"Honey, when you're nine years old you can forget anything!" Cornelia snapped more harshly as she intended.

"What's up, Mother?" Blue Eyes asked racing into the room hearing how upset Cornelia sounded. Nova walked through the door and saw her family.

"Hi!" She greeted happily.

"Blue Eyes, Nova, I want you two to go outside and find your brother as quickly as you can!" Cornelia said in a hurry as she gently pushed Blue Eyes towards the front door where Nova stood confused.

"What did he mess up now?" Blue Eyes asked with a small smile.

"He forgot all about a birthday party!" Cornelia snapped as she faced her husband. "Caesar, why don't you take the horse and check the new park."

"Ok."

"Nova, Blue Eyes, search the entire neighborhood and I'm going to call Arthur's parents," Cornelia said firmly as she turned around and ran to the phone.

"Boy what a dumb thing to do, to forget an entire birthday party," Blue Eyes said with a chuckle leaving the hut along with Nova and Caesar.

"Blue Eyes, that's enough," Caesar scolded at him as they left the hut.

"Yes father."

"Come on Blue Eyes, we have to go find Cornelius!" Nova said in panic as she grabbed his hand and dragged him along. Caesar watched the two and chuckled before getting on their horse to go to the park.

…

Cornelia just finished talking to one of Cornelius's friends on the phone as Caesar walked in through the front door. Cornelia raced over in panic.

"Did you find him?" Cornelia asked in hope.

Caesar shook his head and crossed his arms, "No. I looked all throughout the new park and neighborhood. I saw every child except ours."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to call Theodore's parents and tell them he's not coming," Cornelia said with a sigh, feeling just terrible about the whole situation.

"That's what you should've done in the first place," Caesar snapped a little harshly than he intended.

Cornelia looked at him squarely in the eyes annoyed, "Now Caesar, I didn't want to ruin the party!"

"If we can't find Cornelius, it'll ruin the party anyways!" Caesar argued back, also annoyed.

"If I've known that, I wouldn't have told them he'd be there!" Cornelia snapped back at her husband who rolled his eyes and slightly scoffed.

They heard the back door being opened hearing Blue Eyes's voice raised. They both looked at each other before running in to see what happened. Cornelia gasped seeing how muddy Cornelius is, followed by Blue Eyes and Nova.

"And another thing, Cornelius-" Blue Eyes started to holler again at his brother, before seeing his parents and stopped talking.

"I-I fell down in a mud puddle," Cornelius admitted quietly, looking down at his feet feeling very embarrassed.

"Well," Cornelia stammered trying to think fast on her feet. She turned to her husband and sighed. "Um, Caesar, you get Cornelius in the bathtub." She then faced her oldest son. "..and Blue Eyes, go get a hairbrush and some stain remover." Cornelia faced her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nova, you're coming with me to help find a present."

Cornelia and Nova raced out the back door made out of bamboo sticks tied together by hand-made ropes. Caesar sighed and started walking towards the hall.

"Alright, come on Cornelius."

Cornelius and Blue Eyes followed behind Caesar to the bathroom.

Cornelius faced Blue Eyes and gulped nervously as their father headed into the bathroom down the hall.

"How mad do you think Father is?" Cornelius asked quietly, but visibly nervous.

Blue Eyes shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "He's pretty darn mad, Cornelius. I suggest you don't say a word right now and just do what he says before-"

They both jump startled when they heard Caesar's loud, angry voice from the bathroom. His voice sounded louder and more intense than usual because he's in the bathroom and it bounced off the walls creating a strong echo.

"Cornelius, get in here and take your bath!"

Blue Eyes and Cornelius gulped and ran down the hall to the bathroom on the right hand side of the hall.

…

Caesar is in Nova and Cornelius's room getting the stain remover, hairbrush and other things to help make Cornelius look presentable. He laid the supplies on his son's bed as he heard bickering going on in the next room near the end of the hall.

"Hold still, you little worm!"

"But you're getting soap in my eyes!"

Most utilities and supplies were handcrafted and made by many wilderness materials in a bunch of different biomes across the planet.

Caesar sighed and raised his voice loud enough so his children could hear him. "Blue Eyes, how is he coming along?"

Blue Eyes opened the bathroom door and replied, "Well, the mud is coming off… but I think he fell into something else… because it's not coming out as easily. Cornelius really stinks."

"We'll figure something out, now come on out!" Caesar said opening the door to have a face to face conversation with Blue Eyes instead of raising their voices. "Hurry up!"

Blue Eyes nodded, "Right away, Father."

Blue Eyes came out with Cornelius who is wrapped in hand crafted towels made of sheepskin. Caesar walks over and leads Cornelius in his room along with Blue Eyes.

"Now will you brush yourself out and use this stain remover," Caesar said handing him the bottle and brush. Caesar and Blue Eyes started to help Cornelius speed up the process by rubbing his body with their hands to dry Cornelius's fur quicker.

"How can you possibility forget an invitation to a birthday party?" Caesar asked his son in a harsh tone, helping to dry him off.

"Father, you don't need to yell at me… Blue Eyes already did that when he walked me all the way home," Cornelius explained to his father who heavily sighed and looked up at Blue Eyes slightly annoyed. Blue Eyes smelled his brother again and made a face.

"He still stinks, father."

Caesar smelled his son and made a disgusted look on his face. He looked down at Cornelius and put his hands on his hips upset.

"What on earth did you get yourself covered with?" Caesar scolded very annoyed.

"Gee, I don't know, I was too busy thinking about the mud then the other stuff," Cornelius replied filling his eyes with tears, upset that he's being pushed around and yelled at.

"We're just going to have to use my shaving lotion," Caesar said before looking down at Cornelius who is trying hard not to burst into tears. "And don't you dare cry."

Cornelius nodded pushing away his tears by sniffling.

"Yeah Cornelius, do you want to get a second round of hollering by Father?" Blue Eyes asked with a chuckle as Caesar immediately shot him a cold glare, putting hands on Cornelius's shoulders.

"The shaving lotion… got it," Blue Eyes said backing off, and ran out of the room to go into his parents room to get the lotion.

…

Caesar, Blue Eyes and Cornelius walked out of the hallway, as Cornelia and Nova walked over to them. Cornelia saw some stains on her son's fur and got slightly upset.

"Couldn't you two worked harder to get these stains out?" Cornelia asked picking at his stains.

"We didn't have much time, be thankful he looks this presentable," Caesar said as they walked towards the front door.

"Ok, here's the present," Nova said handing Cornelius a plastic toy gun.

"Why this toy?" Cornelius asked looking at the plastic gun, confused.

"I had to pick out the first thing we saw," Nova said feeling insulted that her brother didn't like her choice. "It's better than nothing, just be happy you have a present to give Theo."

"But-"

Caesar lost his patience and scolded Cornelius which made him swallow hard nervously.

"No buts Cornelius, it's your fault for getting us into this mess, so be thankful that your mother and sister got a birthday present and everything else we did for you today," Caesar snapped at his son loud, sternly and clearly. "You are going to that party, and you're bringing that present. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Father," Cornelius mutters under his breath as he left with Caesar who firmly shut the door behind him.

…

Caesar and Cornelia are sitting on the couch as Cornelius quietly walked through the door. He felt ashamed of his actions today and didn't know how to properly apologize to his parents for sticking their necks out for him. Cornelius slowly raised his head and looked his parents who had unreadable expressions on their faces.

"Hi," Cornelius began as he cleared his voice.

"How was the party?" Cornelia asked nicely, with a small smile.

"It was fine," Cornelius replied, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. "Um, I wanted to uh, thank you for everything today."

Both parents glanced at each other and sighed.

Caesar smiled small and said in a hushed tone, "Cornelius son, come here."

Cornelius obeyed and walked over to his parents. He sat down on the coffee table in front of both of them.

"You do understand why we are disappointed in you, right?" Cornelia questioned her son, who nodded sniffling to hold back his tears.

"Son, you need to learn to remember your commitments before making new ones," Caesar explained softly putting a hand on his son's leg and squeezed it gently. "It not only affects you, but to the apes you made plans with. It wasn't fair to Theodore and his guests to hold up the party because you forgot about it."

"And it affected us as well," Cornelia added soothingly. "We put off our plans to help you out. That wasn't fair to us either."

Cornelius nodded as a single tear trickled down his cheek, "I know. I shouldn't be allowed to make plans ever again."

"Now son, don't beat yourself up too much," Caesar counselled his youngest son using his thumb to wipe the tear off his cheek. "It was a mistake, and we learn from our mistakes. That's a part of growing up."

"And we love you no matter what you do," Cornelia finished planting a kiss on her son's forehead.

Cornelius smiled small but turned more serious.

"I'm sorry for what happened today."

"We know, and we forgive you honey," Cornelia said with a smile as he smiled back feeling better about the whole situation. "We always do. Now, go apologize to Nova and Blue Eyes. They stuck their necks out for you too."

"Yes, mother."

Cornelius stood up from the coffee table and walked down the hall to find his siblings so he can apologize for what happened today.

Caesar faced his wife and put a hand on her leg, "Well, that was a hectic day."

Cornelia nodded, "Yes it was. Thank heavens it's been dealt with."

"You and me both."

 _ **The end.**_


End file.
